I'd just like some clarification regarding that elusive little variable, the MNSF.

(1) Is the MNSF for a given facility constant, regardless of which planet it is located on, the number of cities that planet has, and the size of that planet?

(2) The rules state that the MNSF stands for the "Max Number of Sustainable Facilities per city", and the RNF stands for the "real number of facilities of each type on the planet". Why is it important that the MNSF is "per city", while the RNF is planet-wide? If the MNSF is constant, it seems to me that, once RNF > MNSF is true for one city on a planet, it will be true for all cities, thus the MNSF might as well be "Max Number of Sustainable Facilities on the planet".

(3) Also, though this isn't at all related: what constitutes a "General Question" or a "Question for Admin"?

Thanks for clearing these things up for this befuddled amateur economist!

I can not answer the first 2 but for the 3rd. Questions for admin usually need a database change or something only an admin can answer (admin = headadmin & assistants, those with access to the database)

So, say the MNSF for hotels was 4. You have one city on a planet with 5 hotels, thus since 5 > 4x1, RNF > MNSF. However if you lay down another city platform, that no longer holds true, since 5 < 4x2. Is that how it works? If so, that would definitely help explain many things I've observed.

Awesome. I'm assuming then that when the MNSF is used in the SBR modifier equation, ((Planet Size in Squares) x Civ Level x MNSF) / (0.85 x RNF), it is being multiplied by the number of cities on the planet as well?

Facility income does indeed seem to involve quite an array of different variables, and though it is imperfect, I can't help but be impressed at all the work that went into developing the equations.

[ Edit: If you can't reveal any more information, then I understand. The Combine is already pretty open with the equations they give on the rules page, and I am quite grateful for that. Most everything can be found out through experimentation and trial and error. Of course, with my meager resources, I would prefer a little less error! Any tips you can provide will always be welcome. :-) ]

Thanks, it was quite a slog to get all the equations working. There was a number of other things we would have liked to do to make it a bit more realistic, but resources, both human and server, wouldn't stretch that far at the time. It's already been far more successful than we thought it would be and has become a good way to distribute credits more evenly among people, rather than straight to governments.

That's probably about the extent of the tips I can give you now. Feel free to drop me an email if you run into problems with how much, or how little, your facilities make.